Tobacco head for a water pipe

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a tobacco head for a water pipe. Known tobacco heads of this type break easily during cleaning or if the water pipe tips over. The problem of further developing such a tobacco head so that it is not destroyed so easily during the cleaning process is solved in that the tobacco head consists of a flexible elastically yielding material.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2012 106 919.0 filed 30 Jul. 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a tobacco head (also known as a tobacco bowl) for a water pipe (also known as a hookah).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The principle of a water pipe with a tobacco head (referred to there as a head) is explained in DE 20 2008 016 573 U1.

In a water pipe, tobacco is heated by a hot medium, e.g. charcoal. The outflowing vapors are routed through a water bath, cooled and cleaned and smoked via a hose outlet. The schematic structure of a water pipe is the subject of the above-mentioned publication. It consists of a substantially vertical body tube, to the top of which a tobacco head is attached that receives both the heating medium (the hot coals) and the tobacco to be smoked. The lower end of the body tube extends into a container partially filled with water. The hose leading to a mouthpiece for the user is flanged onto the pipe above the water in this container. A water pipe can also have additional attributes, such as a plate or holding devices for cigars or cigarettes, but these are not of primary interest in the present invention.

The water pipe head or tobacco head, which, as mentioned above, holds the tobacco and the coal, is often constructed interchangeably for the purpose of cleaning. Thus it can be pushed or screwed onto the body tube, removed therefrom, cleaned and then be pushed or slipped back onto the column.

It is also common to construct the tobacco head of the hookah from a hard material, such as a ceramic material, glass, or metal, with ceramic being used in classical water pipes.

Such a tobacco head for a water pipe has the disadvantage that it can break if the water pipe tips over or during cleaning. The fragility is based on the hardness of the material used. The tobacco head can either completely break-up or splinter or crack from hard contact with a hard material and no longer be usable for this reason as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is therefore the problem of improving a tobacco head for a water pipe in such a manner that it is less easily destroyed in operation and during the cleaning process.

This problem is solved by an embodiment of the invention. Advantageous configurations are also described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a water pipe with a tobacco head; and

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the tobacco head shown in FIG. 1 in a longitudinal section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the water pipe 1 has a body tube 3, which is connected at its lower end to a water container 4 and extends under the water surface 11 inside the container 4. The body tube 3 further comprises a hose fitting 5, to which a hose, supporting a mouthpiece for the user at its other end, can be attached.

On its top side, with an intermediate plate 6, the body tube 3 has the actual tobacco head 2, which can be inserted on its underside 7 into the body tube 3 and has a pot-shaped recess 8 for holding the tobacco on its upper side. The bottom of this pot-shaped recess 8 is provided with holes 9 for passing the tobacco vapors downward into the body tube 3. A perforated foil, a screen or another permeable material, on which the heating medium such as charcoal is located, can be clipped over the upper side 10 of the recess 8.

The geometric design of the tobacco head is conventionally known.

According to the invention, however, the tobacco head 2 does not consist of a hard material such as glass or ceramic, but rather of a flexible, elastically yielding material. A polymer-based material, particularly silicone and/or silicone rubber, has proven to be particularly suitable. In one embodiment, the tobacco head 2 is made of a flexible, elastically yielding material, while the water pipe 1 is made of a hard material, such as glass or ceramic (i.e. a material with little or no plastic deformation).

The tobacco head can be produced integrally by an injection-molding method. It can be colorless or colored, depending on whether color pigments are added during the injection-molding process.

Because of the material used and the resulting hardness, the tobacco head 2 is very flexible and can be deformed by hand. This also facilitates pushing the head onto the body tube 3 and removing it therefrom, as well as slipping on the foil (not shown) supporting the charcoal.

The special advantage of the flexible, elastically yielding tobacco head 2, however, is that it can no longer shatter, crack or break when the water pipe 1 tips over or the head is dropped during cleaning.

Tests have also shown that the tobacco head 2 produced from silicone or silicone rubber is resistant to continuous stress from heat and tobacco vapors, so that it can be used as often as desired.

All references cited herein are expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. There are many different features to the present invention and it is contemplated that these features may be used together or separately. Thus, the invention should not be limited to any particular combination of features or to a particular application of the invention. Further, it should be understood that variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention might occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. Accordingly, all expedient modifications readily attainable by one versed in the art from the disclosure set forth herein that are within the scope and spirit of the present invention are to be included as further embodiments of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Tobacco head for a water pipe, wherein the tobacco head is made of a flexible, elastically yielding material and the water pipe is made of a hard material.
 2. Tobacco head according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco head is made of a polymer-based material.
 3. Tobacco head according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco head is made of silicone and/or silicone rubber.
 4. Tobacco head for a water pipe, wherein the tobacco head is made of silicone or silicone rubber and the water pipe is made of a ceramic or glass. 